HBO's Watchmen live-action show unveils its cast, including Don Johnson and a Leftovers reunion

Even Alan Moore himself would probably admit that the first cast announcement for HBO's Watchmen TV series is pretty impressive.

The curmudgeonly creator of the groundbreaking comics has famously opposed any live-action versions of Watchmen, but we bet he never expected HBO to turn it into an episodic series starring Don Johnson and Louis Gossett Jr.

Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

[Don Johnson]

Those two Hollywood leads front a newly-announced cast for The Leftovers writer Damon Lindelof's hugely-anticipated adaptation, along with O Brother, Where Art Thou?'s Tim Blake Nelson, Adelaide Clemens (The Great Gatsby) and Andrew Howard (Bates Motel).

Also joining the show is Regina King, in a reunion with her Leftovers creator Lindelof. Deadline reports King will be playing a female police officer called Angela Abraham.

Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

[Regina King]

Meanwhile, other characters mentioned by the publication are Gossett Jr as the Old Man, Howard as the Red Scare and Clemens as Pirate Jenny.

It's not clear if these are actually meant to obscure that these cast members will be playing Moore's more famous superheroes, or if they'll be playing original characters created by Damon Lindelof.

Tommaso Boddi/WireImage

[Louis Gossett Jr.]

Lindelof explained in a confessional open letter to fans in advance of this casting announcement that his vision for the Watchmen show is for it to be a 'remix' of the graphic novel, rather than a reboot or a sequel.

This content is imported from Instagram. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

A post shared by Damon (@damonlindelof) on May 22, 2018 at 11:00am PDT

"We have no desire to 'adapt' the twelve issues created thirty years ago," he wrote on Instagram on Tuesday (May 22).

"Those issues are sacred ground and they will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted… they will, however, be remixed. Because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we'd be fools not to sample them."

Like the source material, the Watchmen TV series is expected to take place in an alternate reality where superheroes have become fugitives of the US government. HBO has yet to announce a premiere date.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site.

DIGITAL SPY, PART OF THE HEARST UK ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK
Digital Spy participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.